Revenant
by thesecretrosegarden
Summary: Ten years prior to the landing on earth, tragedy struck the Ark when 8 children went missing without a trace. How could anyone disappear on a space station? Was the launched pod on Unity Day really an accident? And what did the council have to do with all this? Ten years of secrecy come to a sudden end and it changes everything Skaikru thought they knew.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 **Ark, Factory Station, 10 years prior**

"Hurry up, Ellyn! We're late for school."  
The boy rolled his eyes, because they were always late. Why had his mother forced him to take that girl to school every day, when she only caused trouble? He had waited outside her door for a solid ten minutes now, knocking without an answer. "Ellie, come on. You'll get in trouble with your teacher, I will too. I really have to go", he tried again, but with no success. It remained quiet inside the quarter and so he gave up. He knew Ellyn's mother was already off to work, leaving her daughter alone at home every morning. It was probably a lot to ask of a six year old to get up in time on her own, to get herself dressed and fed, before meeting up with Nolan for the school walk and he knew she struggled with it, but he only had so much patience.  
He knocked one more time, before he left without her, huffing in annoyance, because he would be late now, anyway. This was the moment he would go back to for years to come, wishing he had just entered the apartment. Maybe it would have made a difference. Maybe he could have saved her.  
But he went to school instead and didn't think of Ellyn for the rest of the day. It was only when he went home that afternoon and saw the guards in front of the Fraser's apartment that he knew something was wrong. And he felt a sickness in his stomach spreading quickly when he spotted Ellyn's mother Neeve, crying next to his own mother, who had her arm wrapped around the young woman's shoulder. She ushered her son away into their own home, who obeyed for once without asking questions, because he was too terrified to really find out what had happened. All he could think of was that he had let the little girl down that morning.

 **Ark, Alpha Station – the same evening**

The connection to the Mountain was poor that evening. A thunderstorm was raging down on the planet, but it would have to do. The video on screen flickered, but didn't black out entirely.

"Good evening, Dr. McKinney. We have made all the necessary arrangements. Everything is going according to plan. Tomorrow is Unity Day and just as we have discussed previously, this will be the best timing for the launch. I hope you will be satisfied with our delivery and we request regular updates of your results in return. This will be the last transmission before we launch Orion. Best luck to you down there. Please report back if the delivery arrived at the destined location. Ark, over."

A slender finger moved over an array of buttons on a keyboard and the transmission was ended, before the Mountain could send a reply. Signals from earth were detectable, so they hardly ever allowed direct answers, in order to keep their mission entirely hidden. Eloise Cullen sat back on her chair and took a sip from a glass standing next to her, humming contently. Months of preparation finally led to the upcoming day. The pod was prepared, everything was in place and the Mountain only waited for their delivery to get the testings started. If they were lucky, they would get interesting results in due time. As a biologist herself, this was what she had begged the council for, more than once. Now that she was on the council herself, she would just make it work.

She pushed herself up from the chair and switched the light off, taking her glass with her as she left the small room. A glance at her watch told her that they had 22 hours left before the launch. Good. There were still a few things that needed to be done, but she was confident that her men would manage just in time. As she went home to her family, her thoughts didn't go out to those mothers who sat in front of empty beds that night, wondering where their children had gone. 8 missing in less than a month. Vanished, entirely without a trace, nowhere to be found. The greatest mystery the Ark had faced since the nuclear fallout on earth. But there were many more to come.


	2. Arkadia

**Chapter 1 – Arkadia**

 **Present Day**

The early morning was cold, the air crisp and painful in the lungs. Winter had finally arrived and for Skaikru it was the first they would experience. If ALIE had been correct, they had less than three months to live and so far no idea how to stop the inevitable. And for the first time, Clarke had given up hope. There were wars humanity could not win and she was sure this was one of them, yet she caught herself pushing the matter away, because right now they were living. Right now, their biggest struggle was to feed their people, because the snow wouldn't melt and their medicine was running low. Skaikru was not used to temperatures that low, so everyone seemed to be sick these days. Clarke herself had a cough, but nothing too serious. She still worked at medical and helped out by taking a watch or two each week. It helped her to stay focused on the present, instead of always worrying about the future. They obviously dealt with that issue as well, but she needed the quiet moments to stay sane.

Sitting at her post now, she watched the sun slowly rise, golden light spilling across the meadows. Her hands were frozen around the handle of her rifle, but she watched in awe as the scenery before her unfolded. For someone who had found a passion in painting, these were the moments she desperately wanted canvas and water color, to capture the beauty that earth was. No matter how many horrors they had all survived down on the planet, it still didn't fail to take her breath away in good ways, for which Clarke was grateful. If she could see sunrises like this, or watch the first flowers blossom in spring again, then maybe survival was still worth fighting for.

"Morning. Raven's looking for you. I think she didn't sleep again."  
It was Harper's voice that caught the blonde's attention and she pushed herself up, numb limbs struggling against the stiffness of a night spent on watch. Harper looked tired, so Clarke gave her a small smile, before nodding. "Alright, I'll go check on her. Thanks Harper, have a good watch." She left the rifle with Harper and climbed down from the fence, heading for the entrance to Arkadia.

Raven rarely seemed to sleep these days. She was constantly searching for ways to beat the odds, running scans, hacking her way through servers and satellites. As usual, her mind was always racing, yet so far there had been nothing. But when Clarke made her way to Raven's kingdom of computer screens and endless codes no one else seemed to understand, she actually caught herself hoping that maybe this time she was close to SOMETHING.

And indeed, Raven was thrilled when Clarke entered, waving her over immediately.

"So, I was going through old data bases up on the Ark, just to find something entirely different, when I discovered a file. It was binary coded and encrypted – but obviously I was able to open it anyway. Bad news first: It has nothing to do with our little radiation problem. Good news: I might be onto something very, very, very juicy."

She beamed at Clarke, who still had no idea what the other was talking about.

"Juicy as in...?"  
"Well, these are only fragments of what used to be there, because someone did their best to delete all the data, but there are always some traces left that can be found. What I discovered looks like pieces of transmissions to earth, long before we were sent down here. They were – brace yourself – sent to Mount Rushmore from the Ark and there seems to have been replies, though they have not been saved."  
Clarke stared at Raven, trying to make sense of the information.  
"That means...they KNEW earth was inhabitable? If they made contact with someone on the planet?"  
"Most likely. And it seems like Mount Weather wasn't the only inhabited mountain here. So maybe, just maybe, it never was an accident you landed so close to it and were told you would find supplies at the mountains. Maybe they knew all along what was there."

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Hey guys :) here we go, chapter 1 ! Like and review if you like it and let me know what you think!


	3. Neverland

**Ark, 10 years prior**

The room was dimly lit, the cots in it hard to make out when the woman entered, a small girl holding her hand. Her size and scrawny built were evidence enough to tell that she was from one of the poor stations of the Ark, where the right nutrition was a luxury children just didn't grow up with. Blue eyes were wide, scanning her surrounding as they walked further into the former storage room, which had been abandoned for years after a fire. The walls were still black, the metal scorched in some places, but it was enough for the purpose it served. There were eight beds lined up at the walls, four on each side and they were all occupied by children, except one.  
"Where are we? Where is my mommy?"  
The girl looked up and the woman had to fake a smile, letting go of her hand. She didn't care about these little bastards at all. Her job was merely to keep them quiet and hidden until the next phase of the operation. "Your mommy, little darling, is at the medical bay. And since you have no other living relative, you are going to stay here with the other kids, alright? Now be a good girl and go to your bed over there." The woman's voice was sweet, but her eyes remained cold. The child looked at her, confused and upset, but followed the request slowly, passing by the curious faces of the other children. Before she had even reached her bed, the door fell shut again and they were locked inside. As soon as they were alone again, the other children came to life and got up from their beds to all gather on the one next to the new comer's.  
"What's your name?"  
"What station are you from?"  
"Do you know why we are here?"  
"What day is it?"  
"I don't believe a word they say, is my mom looking for me?"  
The girl couldn't even keep up with all the questions that rained down on her at once, so she just sat on the bed, shell-shocked, until the oldest boy held up a hand and silenced the other children. He was taller than them, maybe ten or eleven, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, one of which was beaten black.  
"Shut up, everyone. Can't you see she's scared? Just give her a moment."  
The younger girl appreciated his effort and smiled a little at him, before trying to remember all the questions she had been asked.  
"My name is Ellyn. I'm from Factory Station. It's Tuesday, I think? Why are we here? My mommy wasn't sick when she went to work..." Her voice hitched a little and her lip quivered dangerously, because she was scared. Her mom was the most important person in her life, because her father was rather absent. He came to visit every once in a while, bringing her presents and playing with her, but he was always afraid to be seen with her. So the idea of her mother being sick was frightening.  
"Well, I'm Ronan and we've all been told the same story: our mother or father is sick and we have to stay here until they are healthy again, because there is no one to take care of us. We all just have one parent left. But we don't believe them. Something is very odd about it, I mean, look at this room. No one has been in here for years, as it seems. And the people who brought us here are so extremely fake friendly it hurts. No matter what's going on, however, we'll stick together. You're one of us now, Ellyn. Welcome to Neverland."  
He smiled crookedly at her and held out his hand to shake hers. She placed her own in it hesitantly and took a deep breath, swallowing down the lump in her throat, before she remembered something she had heard her mother talk about with their neighbor. The reason why she had been forced to go to school with Nolan every day.

"You are the missing children! My mommy talked about you a few weeks ago", she burst out in realization, looking at the faces before her. "She asked our neighbor to let her son walk me to school in the morning, because she was scared something could happen to me. The children at school talked about it as well...how kids in their classes didn't come to school anymore...that was you guys. And now...I'm missing, too."  
The last words were settling in slowly and she knew that Ronan was right: something was more than odd here. These children had parents who were looking for them. Why had she even opened the door for the guard and the strange, friendly woman?  
"It's all my fault...mommy told me not to open the door for anyone but Nolan", she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes, but Ronan got up and sat next to her, draping an arm over her shoulder.

"It's not your fault. We all made the same mistake. We were taught to obey the guards and trust them and so none of us suspected anything foul. But I am very sure they will find us. It's a space station, right? No one can get anywhere in here. Around us is just space. They will find us."  
The determination in his voice was admirable and calmed Ellyn down a little. He was right, the Ark was a limited space. Sooner or later the guards would find them in here. And in the meantime they just had to wait. Maybe it wouldn't be all too bad.  
Before they could say another word, the lights went out entirely and it was pitch black. The other children groaned and shuffled over to their beds, while Ronan stayed with Ellyn.  
"It's bedtime now. We're not allowed to be outside our cots, but if you want me to, I'll stay with you until you're asleep. The first night is always the hardest." His voice was kind and soothing and he was just like Ellyn had always imagined a big brother would be.  
"I would like that", she whispered back, curling up on the sheets. She had never slept anywhere else but home and could not imagine falling asleep in this darkness. But the stress of the day quickly took over, hurling her into a restless slumber with horrible dreams of her mother dying and the strange woman killing her.  
It would be the children's last night so close to their parents, their homes. For some it was their last night entirely, for others it was the beginning of a journey.  
Unity Day was less than 7 hours away.

 **Arkadia, present day**

"Marcus, can I come in?"

Clarke lingered in the doorway to Kane's quarters, waiting for him to invite her in, since the door was already open. He was stepping outside his bedroom, hair disheveled, a mug of steaming tea in his hand. Judging from how he looked, he hadn't slept in days, but it wasn't on Clarke to judge that, because she wasn't any different.

"Good morning, Clarke. Of course, come in, come in. Is everything alright? You look like the bearer of bad news. If it is bad news, please wait until I finished my tea." It was supposed to be a joke, but his voice was a bit too much on edge to bring it across. They were all worried for the next catastrophe to strike, or for their time to run up prematurely.  
"It's...not exactly bad news? Raven found something interesting while hacking her way through...whatever. I thought you might be able to understand it a bit better, because you were on the council and had access to mission data even before you got your position", Clarke explained, entering the room and placing a folder on his table.  
"What did she find? Maybe Thelonius or your mother would be the better people to ask", Marcus replied, brows knitting into a frown as he went over to her, opening the file.

"Maybe, but your name is in it."

He looked up at Clarke again, the frown deepening.  
"I have never heard about a mission called Orion. What is it? And where is my name in it?"  
Clarke took a breath and pulled out a paper from the middle.  
"These are only fragments of a file Raven found on one of the servers on the Ark, as far as I understood her. Most of the file has been destroyed by someone and these fragments don't really make sense. Your name is in it as the lead investigator of 8 missing cases files. Children who vanished on the Ark and were never found again."

She had expected some sort of reaction from him, but the way his face instantly lost its color and his hand started shaking so badly he had to put the mug down was frightening.

"I...yes, I investigated these cases. None of the...none of the children was ever found again. What does it have to do with this?" His voice was not bare of a tremor and Clarke understood that she had just woken up a ghost from his past. Why this subject was so sensitive for him was lost to her, but she tried to not upset him further.

"I'm not entirely sure. What Raven found, however, was a record of signals received by a certain person on the Ark, coming from earth more than ten years before we were sent down there to test if earth was inhabitable. So the conclusion that is logical would be that someone knew there was life down on earth. The signal sent to the Ark came from Mount Rushmore. And since the file had been carefully encrypted and partially destroyed, it is also logical to assume that someone on the council was either involved, or had access and knowledge of it in some way. Since the missing children were mentioned in those records, it is also possible they had something to do with it as well. There is also this-", she told him, searching for another document and handing it over. It was just a collection of numbers that made little sense to Clarke, and Marcus, who narrowed his eyes and scanned them. "Raven says this is the date, which marks Unity Day ten years ago and this here is a launch code for what Raven believes to be the pod that was accidentally shot down to earth back then. It wasn't that much of an accident it seems, after all..."

Marcus stared blankly at the paper, trying to keep as calm as possible. "This means...that maybe the pod was not empty..." His words were barely more than a whisper, but Clarke nodded. "Yes, maybe. There is not much to go with in the files. As I said, it is only fragments of what used to be there, but I thought since you were involved in it years ago, you'd like to know."  
He nodded slowly, swallowing hard against the lump in his throat. "Yes, thank you, Clarke. I will take a deeper look at it later. If you'd excuse me now, I need to do some...things."

Clarke nodded and took a few steps back from the table.  
"Of course. I'll see you tonight at the council meeting."

She left the room and was kind enough to close the door behind her, sensing that Marcus needed a moment of privacy.  
He remained standing in the middle of the room for a while, heart racing, hands still trembling, before he searched through the folder and found a list with the children that had gone missing. He stared at it, at every name, every life he had been unable to safe back then. For over ten years now he had wondered how children could have vanished without a trace on a space station and maybe now, so long after the incidents, there would be an answer, one he was not yet able to fully comprehend.  
He put the list down on the table again and went over to the drawer in his bedroom. For a moment his hand rested on the handle, hesitant to open it, before he pulled and took something out from under his shirts.  
It was the drawing of a child, of a house, a little girl in a pink dress and a taller man with fluffy hair, both standing on grass under light blue clouds and a bright yellow sun. His thumb stroked gently over a name written in a corner of the picture, tears filling his eyes.

Ellyn.

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Hey guys, hope you like chapter 2! Comments and likes would be very much appreciated, so let me hear what you think 3


	4. The Woods

**Arkadia, present day**

It was a gloomy day mid February and the prospect of heading out into the woods was not appealing. Still, Clarke was waiting for Bellamy to be ready, so that they could start their trip up to the mountain before it started raining again. It was a scouting mission they had done several times in the past months, armed with Geiger tubes to document the contamination levels and other technical supplies to make sure that they were still safe at Arkadia. The malicious part about radiation was, that you could not see it. So monitoring was important in order to notice in time when the levels started rising too high. Three months after ALIE's defeat and they were still no way closer to a solution. They had another three months left to live and if things progressed like this, they would die without a fight, because their enemy this time was soundless, invisible and impossible to beat.

So as usual when they left the camp behind them, Clarke was quiet and lost in thoughts, hoping they would not return with bad news, since good news never happened either. They walked in silence for a while, the breaking of twigs under their feet and occasional rustling in the trees the only sounds in the woods around them. Mist crept over the surface and gave the scenery a creepy touch, one Clarke had grown accustomed to.

It was Bellamy who spoke first, looking over his shoulder to meet Clarke's eye.  
"What's going on with Kane? He's been out of it the last days since you showed him that file", he stated, brows furrowed together.  
Clarke looked up and shrugged slightly, unsure of how to answer. Just because she was Abby's daughter and her mother obviously engaged with Marcus in a way that crossed friendship, didn't mean she had more information than anyone else.  
"I don't know. He basically kicked me out and we haven't spoken about it ever since. There wasn't really a lot in the files. Just bits and pieces of cases that happened ten years ago, but something in his eyes told me there's more to it than just a hand full of children disappearing. Has Raven told you about the signal sent to Mount Rushmore? She thinks it wasn't a coincidence we landed there."  
"Yeah, she told me. We could go look, you know? See if there is something left there. Maybe the mountain men used to live there, too. There could be supplies, or other things helpful to our cause."  
Clarke considered for a moment, before shaking her head.  
"We shouldn't just go there alone, without anyone knowing where we went. I don't trust anything that could have to do with mountain people. We need to complete the mission before it gets dark and can come back another day for the rest. But maybe we should find out more before. Try to talk to Marcus about it, or see if Raven can find any more details on it. As interesting as it seems, we already have enough on our plates. We can't be running after potential crimes from ten years ago."

She surely wanted to find out what exactly had happened, but she had to keep the greater picture in mind and right now Skaikru had more to worry about than that. Maybe they would find time another day to go out and explore, but that would have to wait.

Bellamy just nodded quietly and marshed on, until Clarke caught his wrist and stopped him dead in his tracks.  
"Listen", she whispered, putting a finger to her lips.  
His brows knitted into a tight frown and his ears focused on their surrounding.

"Nothing."

She nodded, icy cold fingers still holding his wrist.  
"It's so quiet suddenly. All the birds stopped singing. Something isn't right."

Bellamy had to agree that it was odd and an uncomfortable feeling crept up his spine. They had faced Grounders in the woods before, acid fog and other troubles, but the utter silence was eve more threatening than that, it seemed.  
"Maybe we should come back another day."  
A flock of crows suddenly burst up from the trees above their heads, startling both of them. Their gaze shot up to the sky, where swarms of birds seemed to escape – something.  
"Yes, let's get back", Clarke agreed with a nod, releasing her hold of him and turning around on her heels to walk back into the direction they had come from.  
It was mere minutes before they realized all light was fading and the sky was darkening above their heads, heavy clouds mounting in the sky like towers, lightnings flashing inside of them. A strong wind started to hiss through the trees and bushes, swirling up leaves and small stones and gaining intensitiy with every minute.  
"We should look for shelter. We will never make it back to Arkadia in time before the storm hits us", Bellamy shouted over the noise of thunders raging, looking around to find something that looked like a place to hide for now. A branch smacked into his face and he stumbled briefly, eyes darting back and forth to figure out what to do. Given the force of the wind already, it was not unlikely to say that they were facing a tornado here, which was not good at all.  
"Run", he finally called out to Clarke, because that was the best option right now. There was no cave or ruin in sight for them to hide in, so they had to get as much distance between them and the storm as possible and hopefully stumble over a shelter on their way.

As the wind got stronger around them, they ran nearly blindly ahead, eyes tearing from the harsh air and rain that started to fall, leaves and twigs in their faces. Neither of them saw the abyss before it was too late and their feet lost footing on solid ground, sending them flying down a steep hill, over rocks and and through bushes, bodies colliding painfully every time their bodies bounced against them.

The world was swirling before Clarke's eyes as she fell, her head hitting the rocks over and over, until she finally lay still in a bed of leaves, the roaring of the storm above her, mind slowly fading to unconsciousness. The last thing she saw before everything faded to black, was a face. Covered in dirty and freckles, two bright blue eyes much like her own staring down at her and a hushed whisper mixing with the wind.  
"Mother can't find them."

 **The Ark, 10 years prior**

Everything was going according do plan. The pod had been launched during the Unity Day festivities and was expacted to reach earth any minute now. Authorities had noticed the launch nearly immediately, but believed it to be a malfunction, since there was no evidence anyone had launched it on purpose. The chancellor's launch codes were needed for that and he had been enjoying the performance of the first graders at the time it had happened, so no one was overly suspicious.  
No one, except for Marcus Kane.  
He was hovering about the scene of the accident, asking unpleasant questions about what exactly had happened, when, why. Eloise was mildly annoyed with his behavior, although it was possibly natural for a guard to be interested in it. Then again, he was also investiating the missing children and Eloise could only hope that he was not smart enough to count two and two together. But that was not going to cloud her enthusiasm over the successful mission now, because the children were gone and no one could get them back anymore now. Earth expected them and with it a not so bright future as lab rats for different purposes. Did she have a bad conscience? Not at all. Some pawns had to be sacrificed in order to win the big game and if those expendable and unimportant brats from Factors station could ensure the survival of them all on earth, it was worth it.

She turned into the opposite direction and walked away from Kane, up to the elevator that would bring her back to the Alpha station, where a nice bottle of wine was waiting for her in the fridge at her apartment. Just when the doors had nearly closed, an arm shot inside, stopping them and Marcus Kane stepped next to her.

"Mrs. Cullen, it's good to see you. I don't think the launch was an accident. There is no sign of any malfunction in the wiring around the pod box and it also seems as if surveillance was in a loop during the time of the launch. You see -" he held a tablet out for her to see a video from the surveillance camera, pointing at a flickering light. "The same flicker, every 5 seconds. Looks like a loop."  
Eloise frowned, mustered the screen without any interest and looked back up at Marcus.  
"I think you're reading too much into this. Why would anyone launch a pod on purpose? There is nothing down on earth for us, but death. It was an accident, not more. I know you have been working hard on those missing person files, maybe you should take a few days off. You are obviously stressed", she stated coldly, stepping past Marcus when the doors opened.  
"Good evening, Mr. Kane. You should go and enjoy the rest of the festivities."  
With that she walked away, making a mental note to send someone to kill him in case he continued to dig deeper.

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Hey guys, thank you to everyone who favorited this little piece of writing, I really appreciate it! I would also really appreciate it if you took the time to review, bc your opinion counts and keeps me motiviated to continue writing 3 hope you enjoyed the chapter


	5. Black Rain

**Earth, present day**

Hushed voices were the first thing Clarke became aware of when she regained unconsciousness, as well as the blasting storm in the distance. She could feel no wind on her skin, however, so she assumed that they were somewhere inside, maybe a cave or ruin. At first, she couldn't make out the exact words that were whispered and nearly expected them to be in Trigedasleng, but the more the fog inside her brain cleared, the more she understood, despite the distant noise. She did not open her eyes, though, because she could feel cold metal against her wrists and ankles, knowing that whoever had found them in the woods had chained her up. So she tried not to give away that she was awake and tried to gather as much information as possible.

"We have to take them back to their camp. Her head looks injured", the voice of a girl insisted, but was brushed off with a snarl from a boy.

"You know we CAN'T. Mother will be upset with us. We are not allowed to go near them, remember? If she finds out we took them in here, we're done for. We'll have to kill them."

"No! You're not going to hurt them, Ro, do you understand? If mother finds out, I'll just tell her it was my idea. Because it was. We couldn't leave them out in the acid rain, could we? They're people from home."

"Stop saying that! Get it out of your head, we can never return. Arkadia has nothing to offer for us. You heard mother. Our families are dead anyway, she checked."

"And since when do we believe her? She always lies to us, Ro. We could take them back there, you know. And stay. We could run away from mother and go back home. What is she supposed to do? They are many against one. Maybe your mother is still alive and so is mine. I want to check for myself..."

A shuffle was heard and the sound of air being pushed out of aching lungs, as the girl's body collided with a stone wall.

"Shut up! We're not going there, you understand me? Never! Next time you talk like that, I'll tell mother. And now find a solution for them, before I deal with the problem!"

An angry growl and footstep echoed through the place they were hiding in, drawing further away from them. It was still for a little while, before movement was audible again and Clarke could feel cold hands on her wrists, loosening the chains. They were not removed, however, so Clarke gained the impression that the girl was trying to give her a chance to free herself and make a run for it. She kept very still, eyes still closed, letting the other do her thing.

"I know you're awake. Run before he comes back. And forget you ever saw us. Don't let the rain touch your skin, it's acid. May we meet again."

The voice was a whisper, barely understandable over the storm and Clarke slowly opened her eyes to see the face it belonged to. She was surprised by how young the girl appeared. Hip long messy curls, bright blue eyes and a split lip that was still bleeding, most likely acquired during the previous argument with the boy called Ro.

She stared back at Clarke, before nodding slightly. The blonde immediately looked out for Bellamy, who was awake as well and pulling his hands out of the chains.

"Come with us", Clarke offered softly, because she had heard the girl's desire to go to Arkadia with them, for whatever reason, because their conversation had not made sense to Clarke, but the girl shook her head. Then she got up and just disappeared into a pitch black tunnel to their right, deeper into the cave they were hiding in.

"We have to go", Bellamy urged, already back on his feet, while Clarke was still looking after the girl, trying to make sense of what both of their captors had talked about. She had never seen the girl before, so why had she called Arkadia her home? The blonde was sure that she had never been in their camp before, so it made no sense at all. Peeling her feet out of the heavy iron chains, she got up as well, head hammering unpleasantly. "The rain is acid, she said. How are we supposed to find a way back without getting soaked?"

"First we'll find a way out of here and then we can look for another place to hide. Come on, before they come back." He grabbed her wrist and just pulled Clarke with him, to the cave entrance, where the ground was black from the dark rain that was pouring down. They were both in thin jackets and had nothing to protect themselves with outside, but the boy had appeared to be determined to 'solve' the problem and kill them, so neither of the two was keen to stay.

Bellamy scanned the area frantically, trying to see where they could slip between trees and cave walls as safely as possible. "Here", he whispered and took Clarke's arms, pulling the sleeves over her hands so no rain could touch them. "This might be radioactive, we have no idea. I'm not sure if Grounders can tell the difference. If it is, we have already inhaled it and that is bad. Cover your mouth as best as you can. You see the rock formation over there? We're gonna run, okay? The ground isn't black there, so it seems to be the best shelter we can find for the moment. Although it is not exactly far away from the cave, but I'm sure they will not follow us. The boy will be glad we're gone, that's all. Together."

He waited until Clarke had pulled the hood of her jacket up and nodded briefly, before they both started running.

 **Arkadia, present day**

Abby paced around medical, chewing her lip, arms crossed in front of her chest. All beds were occupied by people who had been outside when the rain started. Their skin was covered in painful blisters, as if someone had set them on fire. It was like nothing they had seen before on earth and it was not a good sign.

But most of all, her daughter was out there with Bellamy, defenselessly caught in this weather, with nothing to protect them. As soon as the last injured had been taken care of, her mind went wild with all the horror scenarios she could imagine. Despite Clarke's age and the fact that she had demonstrated her ability to survive on her own multiple times, she still remained Abby's child and therefore she worried.

When Marcus appeared in the doorway, he already shook his head before she could ask the question: no news of Bellamy and Clarke. "Is everyone else back inside", Abby asked instead, clearing her throat and releasing the tight grip on her own arms. "Some are trapped inside the stables, but they are safe there. It is clearing up a little, however. I am sure it will stop soon." Marcus gaze drifted over her, his expression just as worried as her own. He knew what Abby was thinking about and he had a bad feeling about it as well. But he also had faith in these two and wanted to believe that they had found a way to hide.

"They will be okay. Both Clarke and Bellamy have proven that time and time again." He stepped closer and rubbed Abby's arms, who exhaled sharply and nodded hesitantly. "Yes, I'm sure they will be", she mumbled, although her voice gave away that she was not really that faithful. "We're running tests on the wounded at the moment. Checking their blood for signs of radioactivity or poison. Raven is running tests on samples of the rain. We should know more in about an hour." Marcus nodded and scanned the people who had been outside briefly. "I'll keep you updated on Clarke and Bellamy. When they return, you'll know first. Let me know when you have the results", he asked of her and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, before leaving medical to make sure that the entrances were guarded accordingly and that someone was keeping an eye on radiation levels and the rain outside.

Abby stayed behind and helped Jackson bandage the blisters of a little boy, who kept crying for his mother, who had been dead since the Culling. In moments like these Abby hated her profession. She always saw people at their best and worst, but unfortunately most often at their worst. Given the level of burns on the boy's skin, she didn't even expect him to make it through the night. Same for most of those who had been brought in. The rain had not only burned their skin, but also their lungs and mouths and mucous membranes inside their noses. Since the air had been moist from the rain, they had just inhaled the acid and it had caused the same damage internally like externally.

When the boy had been given morphine against his pain and drifted off into a restless slumber, Jackson retreated to run the blood tests, while Abby remained to take care of the numerous patients she now had.

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Hey guys! sorry for the long wait, the holiday season is always so busy and my laptop broke twice in between! I hope you like the new chapter :) if you leave a review, i'll love you forever 333 merry Christmas to all of you 333 thank you for reading


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